Numerous deficiencies exist in passive optics and waveguides currently used in near-eye, wearable and projected displays in augmented, mixed and virtual reality applications. Conventional passive optics tend to create see-through or “ghosted” images or objects instead of an impression of solidity and lead to a ghosted effect of the displayed object as perceived by a viewer. Stereoscopy with ghosted objects also creates complicated issues for binocular vision applications.
Conventional transparent lens/display substrates also typically suffer from display quality degradation in the presence of ambient illumination or specular reflection sources in the environment around the user from sources such as sunlight, lamps, headlights or reflections from reflective surfaces.
Current attempts to overcome the above-described ghosting problem have included, for instance, increasing display brightness and/or contrast and reducing the light that is admitted through the viewing lens using a visor element that partially gates the amount of light admitted to the user's eyes. Unfortunately, such prior approaches tend to reduce the “immersiveness” of the display quality and may also increase power consumption. Additionally, such prior approaches are typically application-dependent and necessarily require the use of three distinct, application-specific technologies to meet the different requirements for each of the mixed, augmented or virtual reality systems respectively.